Diana Vreeland Documentary Film

A film about the legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, The Eye Has to Travel  hits theaters today.  She was the legendary fashion editor and curator that fashion mavens have modeled themselves after ever since.  

Kay Thompson (author of the Eloise book series) used her as a muse in her portrayal of a fashion editor in Audrey Hepburn's "Funny Face ".  She shaped the look of magazines like American Vogue and Harper's Bazaar (where ex-assistant actress Ali McGraw worked and described the experience).  She made the costume department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a landmark of fashion.

Diana Vreeland's grandaughter, director Lisa Immordino Vreeland painstakingly researched her grandmother-in-law's life from the Belle Epoque, roaring 20's to swinging 60's.  She was the pioneering mix of High/Low culture, blending street jargon with eloquent sophistication.  Anecdotes in the film are recalled by everyone from Diane Sawyer to Andy Warhol.    The director worked with the editing team behind Valentino: the Last Emperor, Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Frédéric Tcheng.

"Style-- all who have it share one thing: originality."

-Diana Vreeland

The editor in her apartment, which she wanted to look like “a garden in hell.” ((c) Estate of Horst P. Horst-Art + Commerce / Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)

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Happy Birthday Andy Warhol

The most famous Pop artist in the world would have celebrated his 84th birthday today.  Before the iconic soup cans and portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol illustrated fashion for magazines like Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Mademoiselle and Vogue.

His fashion illustration style included deceptively simple line drawings, often with a blotted line technique and bright, flat colors.  The style is seen in many of his most famous pieces today.  The artist also collaborated with others to design fashion.  His artwork was printed on clothing pieces like the paper dress seen in the Paper Fashion Exhibit at Luxembourg's Musee de l'art Moderne.  Andy Warhol also inspired many other fashion designers with his witty motifs and color palette.  Jean Charles de Castelbajac’s Fall 2009 show took this humorous attitude to heart with the furry Warhol dress:

He was influenced by fashion throughout his life, also collaborating with popular models of the day like Edie Sedgwick.  When he died, he was buried in the suit of his contemporary, Stephen Sprouse.

 

“Fashion isn’t what you wore someplace…It was the whole reason for going.”  - Andy Warhol

Paper Fashion Exhibit photo from Oranges and Apples.  Illustrations from the book Andy Warhol Fashion.    Photo of Edie and Andy from Warhol Stars.   Castelbajac Fall 2009 photo by Peter Stigter  

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Jean Paul Gaultier at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

A French-Canadian museum gets tres chic today as Fashion's French bad-boy gets a retrospective.  The exhibit celebrates the Jean Paul Gaultier's 35 years in design.  The looks presented are divided into five themes of his influence on fashion design,  Paris, Fusions, Multi-Gender, Eurotrash/X-rated and Metropolis.

Besides clothing creations, the museum will display photos, sketches and audiovisual elements.  Mainstream fans will probably look for his collaborations with pop culture icons like Lady Gaga, Madonna, Kylie Minogue and Andy Warhol.  What would lingerie be without the iconic cone bra?  Gaultier also contributed to memorable looks in film, photography and concerts.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibit of The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk runs until October 2, 2011.  

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